Two weeks later Kathy and Susan went north to visit her brand-new grandparents. Susan had still not recovered from the shock of another of Bob's odds and ends. He had been waiting for them at the back of the courtroom with the news that Susan, as Kathy's legal child, had just received a bequest of five million dollars from Sam's estate. She was now a wealthy young woman in her own right. Kathy could not believe the change that had taken place in Susan in less than two weeks. Except for a few deep bruises which were rapidly clearing up, she was back to her normal self, a truly beautiful girl. When they reached the senior Stark's home north of Williamsburg, they were heard coming up the gravel driveway and Sam and Betty came out to greet them. While Betty was kissing Kathy, Sam was looking at his granddaughter. "Young lady, where have you been? I'm your grandfather, and I didn't even know you were alive until a few days ago." He took her in his arms and kissed her. Susan looked at the very distinguished-looking man holding her, then wrapped her arms around him, kissed him and hugged him tightly. "Hello, Grandfather. I'm your granddaughter, Susan Stark, and I love you very much!" Sam could feel the tears forming in his eyes as he continued to hug this lovely girl. Betty looked on. "Kathy, she is so beautiful! She's a younger you. Ken will be thrilled." "Mother, do you really think so? I can't even reach him! I don't know where he is. I'm so scared. Of course I love Susan dearly, but I'm afraid Ken will think I've lost my mind! I've written him, but I don't know if he even got my letter." They went inside, and Susan went into the kitchen to get to know her grandmother while Kathy and the Admiral went into his study. "Dad, what do you think? I told Mom that I'm scared to death! Ken may not even know. I can't reach him by phone." Admiral Stark loved his daughter so much he refused to think of her as a daughter-in-law. He regarded her fondly. "He married you, didn't he?" "I don't understand." "My God! Is my son lucky! He's sharing his home with two of the most beautiful women in the world: his wife, and her younger twin, his daughter. Kathy, there is no problem. Absolutely no problem! Ken is madly in love with you, and I know you believe that now. Sweetheart, Susan is a younger you! It can't miss. Besides, I've only known her for a couple of minutes but already I love her almost as much as I love you. As a flag officer I weigh probabilities. It's what we deal with. There are no certainties in this world. But this is as close to a certainty as I've ever seen: Kenneth Stark will love his daughter, Susan. Believe me! He will." Kathy smiled. "Okay. I give up. Dad, I love you." "And I certainly love you. You should know, Kathy, you're not my daughter- in-law. You're my daughter. Period! Kathy, you are the greatest thing to happen to this family in centuries! Now, something's been on my mind. I'm sure you remember the fateful day when we had that... talk... in this very room? Well, you said two things. First, that you had been a prostitute. Second, that you could never have children. Kathy, we discussed the first and dismissed the second. But it's been on my mind. How do you know you can never have children?" "Why, Dad..." Kathy began. "Because a doctor who checked the girls in the house when I was seventeen said so..." She stopped in mid-sentence. "My God! Do you mean to suggest..." "Kathy, I'm not suggesting anything. I'm asking. But it occurred to me that if you hung on to the belief that you were a prostitute long after you left the trade, I might inquire about the other. Have you had a complete gynecological examination recently?" "I'm a fool, Dad." She stood up, bent over, and pointed to her lovely rear end. "Would you please stimulate my brain by giving it a kick? It's right here!" She pointed at her ass. She went back to the chair, sat down and looked at the Admiral ruefully, "That's what happens when every time you sit down, you're sitting on your brains!" "Kathy," he said, "That's the one thing I don't like about you. You take yourself so seriously!" He grinned at his daughter and she grinned back. "Dad, I promise! I'll have that complete gynecological checkup as soon as I can get an appointment!" "Fine!" He looked at her and said, "Now, why is it I sense my daughter has something else on her mind?" "Dad, maybe it's because I do. First, you know your daughter is utterly shameless? If Ken came through that door right now, I would have my legs spread wide to welcome his glorious cock into my cunt in about half a second?" "Kathy, your language is... vivid, but so what?" "I love to play a little game with Ken, often when he's asleep. Dad, when the nipples of my breasts are fully erect -- which is most of the time when Ken is around -- I find they neatly fill the depressions in his shoulder caused by bullet holes. In fact, I tease him. I tell him they're holes left by some Vietnamese wench who left a permanent impression. But seriously, Dad, I love the big lug more than life itself. I don't want to see him screwed, by anyone, ever -- except me, of course. Dad, I've been reading books about the Navy and how it works -- everything from "The Bluejacket's Manual" to Mahan. And keep your mouth closed, please, thank you very much. Ken would kill me if he knew. He tells me I'll be telling CNO what to do. Anyway, one of the books was on military decorations. "Dad, Ken took four bullets in the shoulder, presumably enemy bullets. Why doesn't he at least have the Purple Heart? It's supposed to be virtually automatic in such cases. The only thing I know is that it happened in 1975 when we were bugging out. That may be part of the explanation. But damn it, Dad! He lives with those wounds. I just play with them. If he deserves a medal, he should have it! There's something else: Ken's very honest and forthright with me. He tells me anything and everything about his past, life at the Academy. Anything. Sometimes he's a little reticent because he doesn't really believe I could be interested, but he tells me. Maybe that's why this thing has been bugging me. He says nothing. The most he has ever said is that he didn't duck fast enough. I don't even know what ship he was serving on. My guess is that it was the river navy, though. It's the only way I could see him getting hit by small-arms fire. Do you know anything about it?" "Kathy, I don't. And, as usual, you're right. As you were speaking, I was kicking myself because I don't know, either, and I'm his father. You met him years after it happened. Hell, I visited him in the hospital and let him put me off the same way he did you. Want to make a deal? You've promised to see a gynecologist. I'll promise to find out what happened to Ken in 'Nam. Deal?" She stood up and extended her hand. Again, he was a little surprised at the firmness of her grip. "It's a deal!" she said. * * * As they headed back home, she glanced over at Susan. "What did you think of your grandparents?" "Mom, could I answer a different question? I consider myself the luckiest girl alive! I didn't know the judge was going to ask me what he did that day in court. I only hope and pray that you understand my answer was from the heart. I love you, Mom! You know something else? I am the luckiest girl in the world. I not only have the neatest parents in the world, but the neatest grandparents, too."